


Tranformers: Meta Force ARC 3: THE FIRST ENCOUNTER

by Charged_To_Be_Free_Archives



Series: Transformers: Metal Force Season 1 [3]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Original Continuity, main series, tfmf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:00:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28238103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charged_To_Be_Free_Archives/pseuds/Charged_To_Be_Free_Archives
Summary: Starscream and his Decepticons attack for the first time, you know how the story goes
Series: Transformers: Metal Force Season 1 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1807942
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Opening

She hated to admit it, but Miranda started having second thoughts. 

There were many different things she'd be doing at the moment. Many. Reading a book? Quite boring, but surely a decent option. Buying a new dishwasher? Her old one was barely functioning and she needed to replace it sooner or later, so there might have been an opportunity for that. Taking a break and simply relaxing? Yes, an ideal Saturday evening for her.

Everything home related seemed like a good idea, but instead she was sitting in her boss' office in an uncomfortable chair and patiently waiting for him to finish reading files she brought with herself. What she had decided to do was basically madness, but she felt like it was the right thing to do and was prepared for the fact that she may be denied. 

"... While I appreciate your reports and deeply respect the effort you put into your work, miss Dryder," Finally, the boss looked up at her. "I can't help but feel like you've been asking for a lot of favours in the name of these robots as of late."

"It's just an observation I made while spending time with them." Miranda stated. "They are answering all my questions, being cooperative, and they're at their best behaviour. I think it's safe to say that they've earned a second chance by now."

"Mhm. And what evidence can you present that they won't go on a rampage once they're out?"

"They're not wild animals, sir. They think and feel and have morals. They know what's good and what's bad and are capable of compassion."

Her boss didn't seem too convinced by her words, in fact he started looking more annoyed than anything. He let out a sigh and rested his fingers on his forehead for some time.

"Listen, Miranda. I like stories about good aliens as much as the next person, but this is the real life and those are the real life dangerous machines of unknown origin. I can't let them out trusting only your word and expect them to behave around our kind. Not when the very same robots are out there, more than willing to attack innocent people."

"I understand that, but there is a huge difference between them and the other individuals under my wing. Cybertronians I've been assigned to are civilians themselves. They have their own lives and just want to return on their planet. The ones we're looking for are criminals."

"Even if, once again, what evidence do you have that they won't cause any destruction, even by a mere accident?"

"I’m fully aware of possible mistakes. However, that might be one of the benefits of this decision, actually. Letting them out and teaching them how to act around humans will help us resolve the tension between our races. We can still reach a diplomatic conclusion."

The man leaned back on his chair, glancing at Miranda's documents again and scratching his grey moustache. After a second he shook his head and placed the paper on his desk, sliding it towards Miranda. He tangled his fingers together and replied:

"My answer is obviously no. I'm sorry, but this is completely out of question. The most I can do is find them a different location to keep them in, nothing beyond that."

"Sir." Miranda wanted to speak, but the man rose his hand.

"Furthermore, I think you should stop trying so hard to appeal to them. Your job is to learn about them and make sure they won't escape, not advocate for them. I'm sure they wouldn't even bat an eye at it."

"With all due respect, I am not advocating for them. I studied the situation and know that the conflict is unneccessary."

"We didn't start this conflict, they did by attacking us. And we’re the ones making a decision when to let them go."

"But sir-"

"End of discussion!" The boss commanded in a harsh tone. Miranda wanted to find some words to continue, but she was too late. The boss waved his hand, saying: "Dismissed.", and just like that she had wasted her chance.

She stared him in the eye for some time before accepting her defeat and hanging her head. Quietly, she stood up and started collecting documents from his desk. When she was about to leave, the man spoke again.

"You are a good person, miss Dryder. That's why I'm giving you a final warning. No further actions taken without my permisson, otherwise you can say goodbye to our guests... and your position. Understood?"

"... Of course." She agreed, turning around and leaving. 

The time seemed to slow as Miranda returned with her thoughts to the Cybertronian group she was assigned to look after. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Megatron, Ravage and of course young Hot Rod and Moonracer. She still had so much to learn about them, but she knew that they weren't the bad guys here. 

If this was up to her, she’d let them go and focus on the real dangerous individuals. Who knew what they were planning?


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Insert swirling Decepticon logo and a jingle*

"Here it is." Starscream said, sticking his head out of the bushes. The Decepticons were hiding in the nearby forest, observing a small car factory from afar. "I like to call this operation ‘a team building excercise’, I believe it’ll help us work with each other better. The goal is to take over the factory and remove all humans from it, leaving the entire building for our use. I guarantee you that the reward will be more than satisfying.”

The group exchanged a look. Barricade and the Minicons didn’t seem too thrilled about the entire action, while Slipstream and Breakdown seemed interested in the prize. 

“This is our first big hit, so don’t feel afraid to make mistakes.” Starscream continued, turning around to face them. “The first step is to come up with a plan. This time we’re making it together and it’s one hundred percent spontaneous, so there are no bad ideas. Would anyone like to start?”

Barricade was the first one to rise his servo.

"How about turning around while we still have a chance and trying to earn stuff fair and square like every normal person does?" He suggested. Starscream frowned at him and then glanced at the rest. 

"That’s one of the ideas. Any **other** ones to compare the notes, perhaps?"

"I’ll give you two" Breakdown grinned, transforming his servos into hammers and gently smashing them against each other.

"Direct force may be needed later, but for now let's try a calmer opening." Starscream said, making the other mech pout. “Alright, we’re moving ahead! Anything else?”

"I can hack it once I’m inside." Shockwave suggested. “Prevent them from calling for backup.”

“That’s good. That’s very good.” Starscream said. “I suggest getting rid of all humans at once to take over the factory. Soundwave, do you have any suggestions?”

:Hm?: Soundwave looked up, optics strangely unfocused. :Oh. Right, I... I’m not sure.:

“Then I have a proposition. How about you and your Minicons will make sure the other floors are cleared and we’re ready to take the next steps?”

“Hey, you’re not our boss!” Rumble snapped. “Only our boss can tell us what to do!”

:Rumble.: Soundwave warned, then glanced back at the flier. :We’ll do that.: 

“Great!” Starscream said, amazed at how well the collaboration was working so far. “Now is Slipstream’s turn. Do you have any suggestions you’d like to share? Slipstream?" 

The Decepticons looked around and noticed that Slipstream was gone. Then they heard a loud explosion near the factory and turned around to see Slipstream blowing up the building's wall. The humans inside stopped whatever they were doing and looked at the place where the explosion happed, seeing her enter inside.

 **"Hands up and make sure to scream!"** She demanded, pointing her arm canon at them. The workers started panicking and scattered all over the place. Some of them evacuated, some of them hid, and others were too paralysed in fear to do anything.

"Oh, so she’s allowed to use direct force but not me?!" Breakdown groaned. Starscream took a deep in vent and stood up.

"Alright, so Slipstream decided to give us an entrance. The rest of the plan stays the same, everyone in positions!" He said and followed Slipstream's lead. The rest of the group did the same with Barricade joining the last, full of bad feelings about this.

\-----

Inside was complete chaos. Some of the humans tried to call for help, but something had happened to their signal. Shockwave cut off all ways of communication and they were completely left by themselves.

"What's going on down there?" A group of workers from the second floor came down and noticed a hole in the wall and a bunch of giant robots piling up their co workers in a circle in the middle of the factory. They wanted to return upstairs, but behind them landed Laserbeak and dangerously squawked at them, making them stop. 

"Make sure all of them are captured!" Starscream commanded, turning in another direction. When he wasn’t paying attention to her, Laserbeak leaned closer to the humans and said in a synthesised voice:

=Get out of here. Now!=

Despite the rising adrenaline, the group obeyed and rushed to the nearest fire escape. When they were gone, she turned around to her siblings and gave them a discreet nod. 

Barricade didn't know what he was supposed to do there, nor if he was comfortable with this position overall. A long time ago he promised himself to never become this way and a huge part of him was still refusing to accept this new 'lifestyle' of his. There had to be a better way to solve this. 

"Hey, uh... Excuse me?" Barricade decided to awkwardly walk to the group of humans that were hiding under one of the machines. He bent over and peeked at them like a cat glancing at mice in a mouse hole. He made sure to keep as much distance from them as he could.

"I’m so sorry for the mess, I- I know this looks bad, but we’re not here for you. I can lead you away from here.“ He said, offering his servo.

“Why are you attacking us?!” One of the workers shouted, backing off from him. 

“We just want a factory.” Barricade explained. “Servo on my spark, we mean you no harm.”

“That robot just pointed a gun at me!” The other human shouted.

“I know! And I’m sorry! But I promise you that you’ll be safe! I know it’s a lot to ask, but please. Trust me. You guys will be fine!”

The humans didn’t buy it. They glared at Barricade warily, keeping their distance. Suddenly the machine they were hiding under was ripped from the ground and they were picked up by Shockwave.

“What are you doing?!” Barricade stood back up, shouting at him.

“You’re being too slow.” Shockwave replied. The humans were hitting him with tools and parts of the broken machine they got a hang of, yelling to let them go. Shockwave didn’t even twitch at their attacks. He headed with them to the rest of the circle, leaving Barricade behind. He saw how desperately they were trying to free themselves and how recklessly Shockwave dropped them on other humans who thankfully catched them and it left a sick feeling in his stomach. His body couldn’t help, but let out a deep growl.

:That's all of them.: Soundwave stated after he and his Minicons made sure that the rest of the building was secured. Starscream nodded and activated his jetpack.

"Attention, all staff!" He flew up in front of the crowd and folded his arms behind his back, proudly puffing out his chest. "The factory is under new management. Thank you for your time and service, they won't be needed anymore. We sincerely hope you'll have a good life and that soon you'll find a more suitable jobs for yourselves." At the end he gave them a malicious smirk and pointed at Shockwave. 

"Now, get out!"

Shockwave extended his servo and a large groundbridge opened under the humans. With a series of horrified screams every single one of them fell inside. Barricade tightened grip on his arms, cringing and looking away. After they were gone, Shockwave closed the groundbridge and Starscream flew down to face the rest of the Decepticons.

"We did it, everyone!” He congratulated. “The factory is officialy ours!"

"Yeah!" Breakdown cackled. "So, what now?"

"Now?" Starscream chuckled, looking around. "Now we redecorate." 

He noticed a hole after the machine Shockwave ripped out earlier and then glanced at the scientist. Shockwave stepped closer to it, switching his shoulder canon with a claw and pulling out something from his subspace. The object transformed into a memory stick. Shockwave took one of the ripped cables and plugged his invention in.

He had a few seconds to put it on the ground and then teleport back before the memory stick turned on it’s bright yellow front with a Decepticon logo and started transforming. It changed it’s shape again, and again and soon it sinked into the floor.

Suddenly, the building began shaking and the Decepticons tried to brace themselves for whatever was going to happen. The machines came to life and started moving on their own, adapting to the new element inserted to their system. It's structure transformed and created something completely different. 

Slipstream looked down and noticed that the floor changed colours and small junks of it started moving up. She smirked and decided to step on one which moved up with her standing on it. When the Breakdown and the Minicons saw it, they did the same and were immediately pulled up. Soundwave followed as quick as possible, but Barricade didn’t seem as eager to participate. He started backing off, but he didn’t notice a piece of floor moving up behind him and he tripped on it. He fell back with a startled shout on a bunch of other platforms that took him with themselves against his will. 

Starscream observed the phenomenon with a wide grin on his faceplates while Shockwave looked proud as ever. The factory started changing from the outside as well. It's walls became solid metal and it's structure moved up, creating a large construction of a tower. 

The Decepticons were swirling in the air as they witnessed this unusual transformation. Breakdown attempted to turn around to get a better view and almost lost his balance, but thankfully the Minicons were close and managed to catch him just in time. Slipstream’s platform took her to the very top of the building, which’s roof fell apart and a new one was replacing it. For a brief moment she could see the beautiful sky above her. She wanted to reach her servo towards it, but the metal parts already began covering it and the platform started moving down.

“Maybe next time.” She whispered to herself, pulling her arm back.

Soon, the Decepticons landed. Barricade tried to free himself now that he was close to the ground, but he made a wrong move and clumsily fell face first on the now metal floor. When he looked up he noticed that Soundwave was offering him a servo which he accepted and returned on his pedes.

From this angle the difference in their surroundings was more visible. The factory wasn’t a factory anymore, it was turned into a giant fortress that somewhat resembled the old warship Nemesis they were occupying for some time. 

“What happened?” Frenzy asked, looking around.

“I copied data from the Nemesis and downloaded it on this building.” Shockwave explained. He walked to a purple metal plate that appeared on the floor and lightly stepped on it. It slid open and a console emerged from it. He typed something on it and activated an outside security system. A big holographic screen appeared in front of the group just so they could witness the building slowly disappearing from it’s picture. The scanners were blind to it as well.

“I’m not telling this with ease, but.” Slipstream walked closer to the panel, looking at how different it was from the machines the factory was previously provided with. “That’s pretty impressive.”

“Does it have a name?” Batrat asked, rising his wing.

“Don’t be silly, Bat.” Rumble said, nudging his side. “Only dorks give a name for their buildings.”

“I call it the Nemesis Tower!” Shockwave proudly announced, sounding way too enthusiastic for his standards.

“Ha!” Batrat hit his brother, who stiffened and clearly wasn’t dealing well with his defeat, back.

“The fortress is equiped with many different areas.” The scientist explained further. On the screen appeared a new map of the place. It’s areas were titled and some of them were marked. “You are free to use these any time you want. However, on this floor will be set up my new laboratory. You’ll need my permission and my permission only to enter it.”

“But for the time being, we have medical bay, vault, refreshment room, training sector and obviously quarters for each one of us, among many other things.” Starscream continued. “Why don’t you have a look around and see it for yourself? After all, this is your prize.”

The Decepticons’ curiosity and exctiement took over. They all scattered and started looking around the place except Barricade. He was standing still, arms crossed and giving Starscream a glare. The flier noticed it after a second and faced him with a smile.

“Is something wrong, Barricade?”

“What happened to the humans?” He asked.

“The humans?” Starscream couldn’t help, but rise an optical ridge at him. “Why are you interested in such details?-”

“What happened to the humans, Starscream?” He repeated in a more warning tone. Starscream could tell that he was serious, so he decided to give him an honest answer.

“I told Shockwave to drop them at the nearest water supply. They’re a bit wet, but no harm was done to them.”

“No harm was done- Are you seeing this?!” Barricade spread his arms, gesturing at the entire place. “This doesn’t belong to us! We have no rights to take something from them and turn it into something else! Have you thought about the consequences?!”

Barricade’s lecture quickly became irritating to him. 

“Consequences are not important at the moment.” Starscream stated, squinting for a moment. “For now, let’s just focus on more pleasant things. Did I mention that there’s a paintjob machine? I don’t know about you, but I’m dying for some new look that doesn’t include white, red and blue.”

“That doesn’t make it any better.” Barricade stated. Without any warning Starscream pulled him to himself, wrapping his arm around him and holding him by the shoulder in a forcefully friendly gesture.

“Then perhaps you should stop trying so hard to be better. Enjoy what life is giving you, a possibility like that may not repeat itself!” He lulled, pushing the mech forward. “Let me give you a tour, my friend! If we’re fast enough, maybe you can pick your room first! This all may seem wrong now, but trust me! You’ll love this place once you’ll get used to it!”

Barricade wanted to push Starscream back, but he was way stronger than he looked. He ended up getting dragged around as they headed to different areas of the Nemesis Tower having a ‘tour’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like team building exercises and brand new evil lairs, please consider leaving Kudos and Comments under my work.


	3. Chapter 2

Miranda passed the gate and greeted the security guard as usual. She had been going through this routine for a couple of days now, but this time it seemed especially hard to bring herself to do it.

She headed to the stairs and took one step before stopping. Looking up, she couldn't help but stare at the building for some time. It seemed much smaller than the previous time she stepped into it. Way smaller. And since she was just a human, she could only image how limited it must’ve been for beings as giant as Cybertronians after days of being trapped inside.

"Everything alright there?" Asked the guard who looked out of his post. Miranda blinked, focusing back on the stairs.

"Yes. Of course." She replied, heading up.

When she reached the top and opened the metal door, the first thing she heard was a giant commotion followed by a quake. Miranda gasped, holding onto the door and making sure she wouldn't fall. She quickly rushed inside and spotted the source of the sudden quake.

"Oh come on, not even three push ups?!" Ravage yelled. Megatron was lying on the ground trying to catch his vents while the Minicon circled around him. 

"Get up, Megatron! We're trying this again!" He continued. Megatron let out a small groan, placing his servos on the ground and slowly pushing himself off the ground. 

"What's going on here?" Miranda asked, walking down the platform. Ravage turned around to her and Megatron quietly fell back on the ground, trying to get some rest.

"Training." Ravage replied. "We're doing a few excercises to improve our condition."

He turned around, giving Megatron a glare. When the bigger Decepticon noticed it, he started doing push ups again, grunting.

"That's cute and everything, but I need you to tone it down because we don't want an earthquake." Miranda stated. When she looked around the place she saw Bumblebee watering his cactus in the corner. Sparkplug was waddling towards him, holding a big water bottle in it's claw. It tapped his foot and Bumblebee smiled, looking down and taking it. 

"Thanks, Bulk." He said, turning to Bulkhead who waved him. The bigger mech was repairing a frige near her desk while piloting a drone. Suddenly he looked at the watch on his console and turned to Megatron and Ravage. 

"Time’s up, Megatron." He announced. “Ravage, it’s your turn now.” 

Megatron fell on the ground with a huge thump, completely exhausted.

"About time." Ravage said, flipping on his back. "Don’t you dare going soft on me, big guy."

Megatron took a moment to stand up, putting his servos on his waist and arching his back forward with a soft grunt. After a second he turned to Ravage and kneeled in front of him.

"Are you ready?" He asked. 

"Born ready!" Ravage said, starting doing sit-ups.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Come on Ravage, we don't have an entire week! Put some gas pedal into it!"

Miranda couldn't help, but shake her head, walking to her desk. 

"Where are the children?" She sat down and started unpacking her stuff, looking up at Bulkhead.

"Around." He replied, optics glued to the fridge. "They seem to be more active than usual, so better watch you back today."

"Right...” She wanted to ask if they needed some fresh air like human children did, but guessed that it would spark an argument. Ultimately she fell silent as the two of them focused on their work.

\-----

Hot Rod peeked outside of his room to see if Megatron and Ravage were still training. When he made sure that they were busy he turned around to Moonracer and gave her thumbs up.

"They're occupied." He whispered. "Do you have an emergency disguise?"

Moonracer smiled and showed him a big white sheet with two holes for her optics. She put it on herself and returned the thumbs up from under it. 

"Disguise is active!"

"Good! I'm watching your back!" Hot Rod said. Moonracer walked to the sheet wall separating two rooms from each other and slowly pulled it up. After a second she stepped on the other side and entered Megatron's room. She ran a quick scan of her surroundings and noted a few changes since the last time she’d been there. 

It was messier than she remembered. The Decepticon had been helping Bulkhead with developing Sparkplug, so perhaps that was the reason behind a bunch of random manuals lying around. Nonethless, she started searching the place. Except the manuals there were a few opened books of other kind. They didn’t seem too sinister. Most of them were either about household appliances, or travels. There was this one unusual looking cooking book that stood out from the rest though.

Moonracer picked it up in order to check it out when suddenly something caught her attention. Under it was hidden a small purple holo medallion. After a second she decided to take it instead, along with a few more things from the pile. Before she left, she decided to do something cool. She walked to the wall where Hot Rod was waiting and whispered:

“Pull up the sheet.” 

Hot Rod obeyed and she clumsily rolled back on the other side. She landed on her aft, but quickly stood up and crossed her arms, grinning smugly as if she nailed it.

"Any luck?" He asked.

"Why don’t you see for yourself? I have this." With one swift swing of her arm, she tossed a few papers on the floor. After that she showed him a medallion between her digits. "And this."

Hot Rod couldn't help, but smile. They sat down and Moonracer placed the object before them. 

"It looks old." Hot Rod said. 

"Yeah, I've never seen anything like it before. How do we even open it?"

"Give me that." He said, grabbing the medallion. He rolled it's top a few times and after a second it started to flicker. The youngling placed it back on the ground and a glitchy holographic screen projected from it. 

"Wow." Moonracer smiled. "How did you know?"

"Dion." Hot Rod simply said, starting to scroll through the files of medallion. 

The object was filled with old photos, Megatron was present on them along with many people familiar looking and not. There was this one picture where he was posing in front of some building with a flier they both recognised as Slipstream. They looked very happy and comfortable with each other’s presence in it.

"Ugh." Hot Rod felt sick just by looking at it. He scrolled further, finding more similiar photos with other people. Megatron was never alone in them.

"Look, it's Ravage." Moonracer suddenly noticed. Hot Rod stopped at the rather silly looking picture of Megatron making funny faces with a bunch of Minicons. Ravage was lying on his head, laughing. Next to Megatron was standing another mech whose face was covered with a mask and a huge dark blue visor.

"He doesn't look familiar." Hot Rod hummed. 

"Do you think that since Ravage is here he's somewhere on Earth too?" Moonracer wondered. 

"I don't know." Hot Rod scrolled further, not stopping at any of the other pictures as if looking for someone. 

"Uh, Hot Rod." Moonracer said. "You skipped a few."

"Yeah, I know, I just..." He said, still focusing on the scrolling images. "I can't find the arm guy anywhere."

"The arm who?" Moonracer tilted her head.

"Hot Rod! Moonracer!" Without any warning their names were called out. The younglings squeaked, seeing a small shadow approaching towards them.

"Plan B! Plan B!" Hot Rod whispered, closing the medallion. Moonracer grabbed the sheet and threw it in the air. They ducked and it fell on them, covering them completely.

"Are you two here?" Miranda peeked inside, noticing a giant sheet lying on the floor. Small colourful lights were glowing through it, giving her an idea what could've been under. She couldn't help but stare at it in confusion before coming to a conclusion that she had disturbed the two.

"I just wanted to make sure how you are feeling today, but I suppose we can do it later.” She said. “If you’ll have any questions, I’m at my usual spot." 

Miranda waited for an answer she never received, then stepped back.. She let out a heavy sigh, going back to her desk, expression growing somewhat more sympathetic.

After she left, the younglings stuck their heads out of the sheet, looking at each other.

"That was close." Moonracer said. 

"Yeah." Hot Rod agreed, holding up the medallion. "We should be more careful from now on."

“Agreed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like looking through someone else's old photos and hiding under enormous sheets, please consider leaving Kudos and Comments under my work.


	4. Chapter 3

"There we go! Feels so much better, doesn't it?" Starscream said, squeezing Barricade's shoulders and making him let out a small groan. They stood in front of a mirror in the reshreshment room while other Decepticons were still changing their paintjobs. To his frame were added purple and green accents which blended pretty well with black and white. The mech really liked that change, but he refused to admit it out loud. He still didn’t like that they were using machines from the stolen factory for their own benefit.

Slipstream put down her spray bottle and walked to the mirror, looking at her finished work. She decided that purple was overrated and she wanted to try something else. Her frame became silver with accents of light red and brown. Maybe it seemed a bit simple, but she decided that it would suit her best from now on. Slipstream turned around a few times to make sure she had every spot covered.

"Well?" She asked, putting her servos on her waist, and looking at the other flier with a smirk. "Aren't you going to change, Starscream?"

"Oh, I'm still thinking about the colours." Starscream said. "For now, I'm just enjoying admiring what all of you decided to go with."

"Hey, Starscream." Breakdown said, rising his own bottle spray still full with paint. "Can you spray my back for me? I can't reach it."

"Naturally." Starscream left Barricade's side and walked to Breadown, taking the bottle. The one eyed mech sat down and let him finish the job.

"You look like a Caminus’ tropical special." Slipstream chuckled. Breakdown's colour scheme was somewhat of an unique choice. He used to be dark blue, but now he went with something brighter. His frame was coated with brown, light orange and dark sea green shades alike. 

"Wait till you see what Shockwave came up with." Breakdown replied, turning his head towards her.

Starscream lost himself to the music Soundwave started playing. He couldn’t help, but nod his head to the soothing rythm as he worked.

"Oh, I like this tune. I’ve never heard anything like it before. I think I'll create one of the... the..." He started snapping his digits, trying to refresh his memory files. After a second he gave up and turned to Soundwave who was sitting in the corner of the room. "Soundwave, how would a music list be called? How are people refering to it nowdays?"

::A playlist.:: Soundwave replied. He had his console pulled out on which he was writing down songs he found the most interesting and made notes about planet’s trends. 

"A playlist, yes!" Starscream cheered. 

“It **is** pretty nice.” Breakdown nodded.

“Meh.” Slipstream shrugged, making sure that the accents on her arms were visible. “Find me something stronger and I’ll consider agreeing.”

“Can I leave now?” Barricade asked, feeling really exhausted just by spending time with these people. 

“Of course! Make yourself at home!” Starscream said. The mech didn’t trust his friendly tone at all. The doors of the refreshment area opened and Barricade stepped out of them, passing Batrat on the way.

“Hi!” Batrat greeted, waving to him.

“Hi.” Barricade rose his servo for a second, not even turning around. When he was gone, the door closed and the way was cleared. After making sure that no one else was going to follow, Batrat turned around and waved to Laserbeak and Rumble. 

His sister nodded and disappeared inside the vents near Shockwave's laboratory. Rumble leaned against the wall, covering the opening and pretending to be playing with his digits.

Laserbeak managed to find her way inside, stucking herself to the ceiling. She looked down and spotted Shockwave working on his computer in the dark like a weirdo he was. He looked like he had already changed his colours as well. The purple paintjob looked more vibrant than before and he decided to add some yellow accents to the mix, replacing the old black ones. She couldn't tell if it was a good change or not.

Nonethless, Laserbeak used her night vision to see what he was working on. It looked like he had hacked into a camera of the entire area and was monitoring a big dam. He pulled out another screen and noted that there was a town near it.

After a second Shockwave walked to the table where he prepared a big metal box. He opened it and pulled out a controlling device of some sort followed by a couple of small metallic packages with red buttons on their tops. He took one of them and opened it, revealing a cyber bomb.

Laserbeak's optics widened. She quickly retreated back to the vents, trying to return to her brothers. Unfortunately she made one not careful enough step which echoed through the vent. Shockwave immediately looked up, tilting his audials and listening.

Suddenly loud commotion could be heard from the outside, distracting Shockwave from the ceiling. 

\-----

"Rumble, no! I was just joking, you can stop now!"

Shockwave walked out of his laboratory, looking around and seeing Rumble kicking the vent's gates while Batrat was pleading him to stop.

"You are brave enough to do this, just stop it before you'll get into truble!"

"What are you doing?" Shockwave asked, bringing the Minicons' attention to him.

"Kickin'!" Rumble stated, grinning.

"We're sorry, if I knew he'd actually start kicking the vents I'd never dare him to do it!"

"But ya did and now you owe me your buffer for the next month!" 

They couldn’t see it, but they knew Shockwave was squinting at them. Rumble folded his arms and gave him a big grin while Ratbat offered a nervous smile. After a second the Decepticon reacted. 

“Don’t do that ever again.” He said, heading back to the laboratory and closing the door. When he was gone, the two brothers let out a relieved sign. 

"... So," Rumble said after a second. "About that buffer-"

"No." Batrat denied.

\-----

Laserbeak didn't return the same way she came from. She arrived at the building's roof, seeing the outside world around her. 

::Too close.:: She said to herself, sighing. She was way out of practice for missions like that. Laserbeak took a glance at her surroundings, thinking about what she saw. It was not hard to piece together why Shockwave needed these explosives and camera shots for.

::We can't do this alone.:: She admitted, looking up at the sky. She could feel the heat of the barrier protecting them from the outside world reflecting on her own frame. Everything under it was a dead zone. No signal, no picture, no anything. If any of them left, they’d immediately find out. It was basically a trap.

Still, Laserbeak knew there still was someone out there who she could count on. Perhaps it wasn't the best help, but sometimes ‘it takes just one more Minicon to defend a village’ as the good old saying she just came up with said. 

This could end up badly, but she was willing to try. 

Laserbeak took some air into her vents before shutting them down. She focused on her spark and it's pulse slowed, making her signal less visible.

After some time she spread her wings, pulling herself from the ground and flying up as fast as she could. The barrier was closing in, but she didn't care. Her EM field brushed itself with it, making her shiver just for a moment. Before she knew, Laserbeak was out in the free air and as soon as she could be heard, she took a deep in vent and yelled:

**::Ravage!::**

\-----

Ravage's ears twitched and he rose his head up, gasping. 

\-----

Laserbeak had only a few second before the field would detect her absence. She made a bow in the air, flying back and disappearing back into the safe abyss of the Nemesis Tower, just before her spark pulse started beating again.

\-----

"Is something wrong?" Megatron asked. When Ravage stopped doing push ups and froze out of the sudden he could sense that something was off.

"Laserbeak..." Ravage whispered. "Megatron, I felt my sister! I heard her! I know where she is!"

Megatron looked disbelieved, but after a second he smiled widely.

"Everyone!" He shouted, gaining everyone present in the hangar's attention. "We have some big news!"

\------

Miranda never typed on her laptop so quickly before. Ravage had given her the coordinates of a place he received the signal from the Decepticons and she was trying to find it on the map. Ravage was behind her, studying the map and impatiently waiting for the results.

“What’s going on?” Moonracer and Hot Rod walked out of their rooms and noticed everyone sitting around Miranda’s desk.

“Ravage might’ve just found where the Decepticons are hiding!” Bumblebee turned around to face them, smiling. The younglings let out a gasp, disbelieving their own audials. After a second their expressions lightened up and they rushed towards them.

“You found them?!”

“Where?!” They tried to push their way out before Bumblebee and Bulkhead, but ended up just lying on them. Bulkhead couldn’t help, but chuckle, rising his arm and looking at Hot Rod who was hanging on it.

“Does that mean we can finally go home?” He asked, hopeful.

“That’s a step one, but a step in the right direction.” Bulkhead replied, smiling to him. 

“There!” Ravage pointed at the map on Miranda’s laptop. “I sensed Laserbeak there!” 

“They’re in Scotland!” Miranda said. “What area?”

“Bring the map closer!”

“I can’t wait to go outside!” Moonracer said, sitting next to Bumblebee and spreading her arms. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen an actual sunrise!”

“And roads, I never thought I’d appreciate them so much!” Hot Rod added. 

“Don’t forget animals and plants.” Bumblebee joined, unable to control his happiness. “I’ll finally have a chance to see them personally!”

Bulkhead was just as enthusiastic as the rest of the group, but decided to show it only in a big smile he had on his faceplates. When he looked up, he was Megatron who was thoughtfully facing the floor. He was being awfully silent the entire time. Bulkhead’s smile melted away when he saw it. The mech wanted to say something to him, when Miranda spoke again.

“We found them!” She said, standing from her chair. Her enthusiasm however didn’t last long. “Oh no...”

“What? What is it?” Bumblebee asked. Hot Rod and Moonracer got worried quickly.

“What?...” Ravage widened his optics. The Autobots already knew something bad had happened. “No, this... This can’t be right. I swear, of all bots Soundwave would never...”

Megatron finally seemed to gain his interest back.

“Turn the computer towards us.” Bulkhead demanded.

Miranda grabbed the side of her laptop, hesitating for a moment, before turning it so others could see. The group leaned closer and to their horror their celebration was held too soon. There was a news report about a sudden disappearance of a steel factory in Scotland. The witnesses confessed that a group of giant robots attacked them and forced them out. What happened to the building afterwards wasn’t clear. 

All of them were equally horrified, but Megatron was completely devastated to the point where his spark started aching. He put his servo over his protective disc, gently scratching it’s sides.

“Alright, no more fooling around.” Bulkhead said, standing up. “Kids, you stay here. Bee, Megatron and Ravage, we’re going out there and ending things once and for all.”

“What?” Hot Rod asked, standing up. So did Moonracer. “You’re leaving us?!”

“Just for some time.” Bulkhead explained. “You two have already been put in danger too many times than I’d like to count.”

“And we helped back there too!” Moonracer reminded. “We’re going to stay close this time, just please, don’t leave us here!”

“Bulk’s right.” Bumblebee joined. “It’s not safe for you to go out there when the Decepticons are around.”

“And yet taking a literal leader of the Decepticons is a safer option than taking us on this mission?!” Hot Rod shouted, gesturing at Megatron.

“Hot Rod!” Bulkhead frowened.

“You know, logically speaking he kind of has a point.” Added Moonracer. It really shouldn’t hurt by now knowing the younglings’ opinion of him, but their words still shook Megatron to the core. They broke into a bigger fight, arguing if they should go or not and Miranda thought she was going to have another headache that morning. 

“Everyone, stay calm!” She shouted, gaining everyone’s attention back. “I need to make a call.”

\-----

Miranda went outside where she nervously started walking in circles, trying to reach her boss. During the waiting process her mind was going crazy. After a few weeks of waiting, something started happening and she wasn’t prepared for it at all. Neither all these poor people in Scotland. After what seemed to be an eternity of waiting, someone picked up the phone.

;Hello?; A voice of her boss spoke.

“Sir!” She said, trying to sound as calm as possible. “We have a situation!”

;Yes, we know.; He said. ;We are sending reinforcements as we speak.;

“The Autobots and Decepticons are ready to join them.” Miranda continued. “I just need one word and they’ll be on their way-”

;Precisely why I can’t grand you the permission, agent.;

“... What?”

;Now that we are so close to capturing all of them, we can't risk the possibility of them getting away. They can take care of them once they issue is dealt with.;

"Sir, I... With all due respect, these people are in danger. We don't know what to expect, isn't it safer to send Cybertronians who already dealt with the Decepticons instead of facing the unknown threat that literally made an entire factory disappear?"

;We know what we're doing. Do your work and let us do ours. That's a direct order.;

"But-..." Before she replied, he hung up. Miranda groaned. "Why you backstabbing, lying, short sighed **son of a-!"**

She was about to smash her phone against the ground before she noticed that the guard was staring at her. She couldn’t escape the awkward eye contanct, so she slowly hid her phone in her suit and clearing her thoat. After a second she turned back to the hangar's door. Before she opened it, she run her hand down tired her face, sighing. Now she had to deal with another difficult situation, informing the group about the current situation. 

Miranda entered back where the Autobots and Decepticons were waiting for her.

"And?" Bulkhead was the first to ask. "Are they preparing convoys?"

"No." Miranda said. "The situation is... under control. There's no need for your intervention in the matter."

To her horror, the group went silent. After some time Ravage barked:

"Under control?! Haven't you seen what happened?!"

"I have." She calmly replied. "But I can assure you, my superiors know what they're doing. I'm very sorry to disappoint, but you'll have to stay here for just a bit longer. Only a bit." 

Miranda catched a glympse of Hot Rod and Moonracer hiding behind Bulkhead. Both of them looked more than just disappointed. They looked betrayed. It pained her to continue, but she was forced to when Bulkhead stepped out and headed towards her. Judging by his expression, he felt indifferent.

"You said you're here to help us." He said. 

"I am." She defended herself. "Trust me, if this depended on me, I'd let you go this very second. However, I'm under strict orders and I need to follow them. That's the only thing I can do for now."

"You have to, or is it just easier for you?"

Miranda didn't reply right away, but she wasn't going to give up. Megatron wanted to add something to the conversation, but then he looked down at his spark chamber covered by the metal disc. He had a better idea. He discreetly grinned to himself and then put his servo on Ravage's shoulder. 

"Come on, Ravage. There's no winning this battle." He said. 

"What?!" Ravage turned around to face him. Megatron smiled, winking. That was enough for the Minicon to understand what he meant. After a second he grinned back, nodding. Then he turned to Miranda and gave her a glare. 

Megatron stood up and headed to his room, Ravage following behind. Hot Rod and Moonracer didn't say anything, just headed to their parts of the hangar while Bumblebee returned to his garden. Bulkhead was the one who stayed the longest, but eventually left as well, leaving Miranda by herself. 

"This is for everyone's good!" She shouted after him, but the green mech didn't even stop to acknowledge she said anything. After seeing that there was nothing left to lose, she hanged her head and returned to her desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like kickin' the vents and having sneaky ideas, please consider leaving Kudos and Comments under my work.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like talking to your boss and buying a new dishwasher, please consider leaving Kudos and Comments under my work


End file.
